


don't you know that the kids are(n't) alright

by aletterinthenameofsanity



Series: this could be good (love is patient, love is kind) [3]
Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Mystic Force
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Male Character, Broken Families, Bruises, Chip-centric, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Family Bonding, Family Drama, Foster Care, Found Family, Happy Ending, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kissing, M/M, Metaphors, Multi, Nick is not Udonna and Leanbow's child, OT3, Plot Twists, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Scars, and I'm not sure if i like the thing, aren't you all proud, but i do REALLY like the line "the way nightmares crush daydreams", if i'm being honest, mostly because of the ending, nvm I LOVE this thing now, so I did a thing, so at least that's a good thing, the angst does NOT come from the romantic relationship this time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-08-19 23:39:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16544528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity
Summary: Furious tears spring to Chip’s eyes and a lump rises in his throat. When he was a kid he dreamed his mother was a lost princess, who had to leave him behind because she was being hunted by monsters. Then, when he met the Bishops, he learned that the monsters had found him here just as easily as they would have with his mother.He gave up on the idea of a fairytale ending, of having a mother and father that would return to save him from the monsters. He spent four years with the Bishops until the Roccas managed to wrangle the Soulmate laws so that he could live with them.When Chip picked up his staff and declared his belief in magic, it was not a belief born of foolish childhood wishes and syrupy sweet fairytales. It was a faith born of necessity, of the way nightmares crush daydreams and how monsters teach little children that they have to rescue themselves because no one else will. It was a hope born of the iron in his spine, the solid weight of Soulmarks against his skin, the love of the Roccas in his heart.“You didn’t recognize me,” Chip says, and Udonna looks at him with her brow furrowed. He raises his voice slightly as he says, “You gave me up, and you don’t even know it was me.”





	don't you know that the kids are(n't) alright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Guardian_of_Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/gifts).



> Title is from "The Kids Aren't Alright" by Fall Out Boy.
> 
>  
> 
> The song "Light" by Sleeping At Last works really well for the last few scenes of this chapter, specifically the conversation between Udonna, Leanbow, and Chip, as well as the conversation between Vida, Chip, and Xander.

_You were alone left out in the cold_

_Clinging to the ruin of your broken home_

_Too lost and hurting to carry your load_

_We all need someone to hold_

_You’ve been fighting the memory all on your own_

_The end of the day, I'm helpless_

_Can you keep me close? Can you love me most?_

**_-Vancouver Sleep Clinic,_ Somebody to Stay**

 

When Chip was a little kid, he dreamed that his birth mother was a fairytale princess, that she had dropped him off in the middle of the park because she was being chased by monsters. He dreamed that one day she would come back and rescue him and they would be one big happy family.

When he’s five he enters the foster system, and he ends up at the Bishops’ house. The Bishops are not nice. They are not kind. When he messes up, it hurts.

Chip learns that not only monsters exist, but they never left his life. Monsters do not hide in fairytales or in closets; they inhabit the bodies of the family he lives with, the house he calls home.

(He’s so lucky that bruises don’t travel through the Marks.)

-

When Chip’s six he meets Vida Rocca, the first of his two Soulmates. She goes to the same school as him and she’s beautiful and brave and dangerous. She protects him from the mean bullies who make fun of him, laughs at his jokes, and shares her favorite music with him.

Chip plays with Vida as far away from the Bishops’ house as possible. In general, he just tries to spend as much time away from the Bishops as possible. He doesn’t like being sad, and they make him very, very sad. Vida and the Roccas, on the other hand- they make him happy. He loves his Soulmate and her family.

And then there's also the fact that Chip and Vida have another Soulmate out there. Xander Bly, of failed plans and stubborn words and bad dad jokes, who lives in a place called New Zealand and says he’ll love them no matter what. Chip can't wait to meet him.

-

(Chip keeps hurting, and the bruises never quite go away. Despite this- despite everything- Chip keeps smiling. He has hope, in Vida and Xander. He has two Soulmates who will love him until the end of time. He has superheroes and comic books and Harry Potter. He has no shortage of things to find delight in.)

-

When he’s nine, the Roccas discover the bruises. They ask him where they come from and, with some prodding from Madison and a rare _please_ from Vida, he tells them.

Chip doesn't know exactly what happens next, but the the Roccas tell him that there are some sort of Soulmate laws that let him live with them and Vida. Chip likes it a lot better at the Roccas than at the Bishops- they’re nice, and they let him have cookies, and when he messes up he doesn’t get hurt. His red blanket, which he had to hide under the bed when he was living with the Bishops, can just sit in his backpack or on his bed. He doesn't have to be afraid of it getting taken away from him when someone gets mad.

He loves it here.

-

The Soulmarks disappear for about a week at the beginning of eighth grade, and Chip and Vida try not to be worried. Xander doesn’t normally ignore them like this, and they know his family just made a big move to the States. Did something happen to him to make him stop writing?

"I hope to god that Xander's alright," Vida says as they both head out to the bus loop. Because they don't use their lockers and don't have friends to stop and talk to, they're always the first ones out to the bus.

"Yeah, me too," Chip says as they step onto the bus. "Do you think he'll write soon-?"

There’s a kid sitting in the front of the bus all by himself, shoulders hunched in and arms covered by long sleeves. Chip’s brow furrows- it’s barely September and normally kids at their school like to bare their Marks up until parents force them to war coats in December.

“Hey, man,” Chip says, never one to let a lonely kid slip by. “You okay?”

The boy looks up at him and Vida, and Chip notices his eyes. They’re really green, just like his shirt, and Chip thinks it’s pretty cool.

“My name’s Chip,” Chip says, sticking out a hand, and the boy’s eyes widen.

“My name’s Xander,” the kid says, Kiwi accent unmistakable, and Chip grins.

“Xander Bly?” Vida asks, sliding into the seat next to Xander, and Chip follows a moment later. It’s a bit cramped, but when the boy nods that crampedness doesn't matter anymore.

“Vida Rocca,” Vida says, grin bright and brilliant as it always is when she looks at Chip, and Xander’s jaw drops.

“No bloody way,” he says.

“Way,” Chip says with a nod. He holds up his wrist, which is currently showing his own black ink and Vida’s pink ink. “Nice to meet you, Soulmate.”

Xander's grin reveals a chipped tooth and braces. "Nice to meet you to, Chip Thorn."

-

That night they find themselves all curled up on Vida’s bed, Xander in between Chip and Vida.

“Why did you stop writing to us?” Vida asks, voice a bit suspicious and a bit concerned, and Xander winces.

“The kids kept making fun of me ‘cause my voice is all different than theirs and I couldn’t figure out how to tell you guys that I didn’t feel accepted here. I didn't want you to get upset.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” Chip says, “No matter what, we’ll always accept you.”

Vida nods in agreement, eyes flashing. “We’ll take care of you,” Vida says, “‘Cause we’re Soulmates, and that’s what good Soulmates do.”

Xander smiles and takes one of their each of their hands in each of his. Their fingers entwine like they’re meant to, fitting together like pieces of an age-old puzzle.  
  
(Chip's Marks sit on his arms, a solid promise that there are two people in this world who will never hurt him.)

* * *

Five years later, they’re working in the record shop together with Madison. It’s a pretty perfect set up that they began last year, when they were seniors- Xander’s parents work long hours, so every day after school the three of them headed to work, spent a shift at the record shop, then headed home to the Roccas for homework and dinner. Now that it’s their gap year (Chip plans to go to college next year, while Xander and Vida are still figuring out what they want), they share a small one-bedroom apartment in the middle of town.

Life is good. Chip has two Soulmates he loves, a basically adopted sister, four parents-in-law (well, they will be someday, at least), a home, and a job.

-

Then they enter a forest, meet a witch, and get offered magic powers. Chip looks at Xander and Vida, excitement in his eyes, and they melt. It takes barely a word before they are both fully on board with the idea of being Power Rangers.

(Something Chip will never fully understand- Xander and Vida will do anything to make him happy. They know what he looks like when he’s sad, the way he sometimes ends up staring at the house down the street and rubbing at his torso, where a phantom pain presses against his ribs. And they hate that look in his eyes. They will do whatever it takes to keep away the bad memories, the nightmares, the crushed childhood dreams.)

-

The first few weeks of being Rangers works out pretty well. Chip, Xander, and Vida's schedules end up just a little longer, a bit busier, but Chip wouldn't give it up for the world. Being a Ranger, a hero with a magic wand, is every fantasy he had as a child made into reality.

Every night that they collapse into bed, limbs exhausted from slaying monsters, is another night of good dreams. They are heroes, protecting the innocents from their monsters.

(Chip is fighting back against the monsters that destroyed his childhood, keeping them from ruining anyone else's. It is far more satisfying than he should probably admit to.)

-

Chip's trying his best to not give up, but Vida has been turned into a vampire and they have only a couple of hours to make the Dawn Crystal and save not only her, but a huge section of Briarwood as well.

Xander left to go fight Necrolai with a quick, hard kiss and a promise to find Vida and make sure both of them return safe. Nick and Madison went with him as well, which leaves just Chip and Udonna behind to complete the Dawn Crystal, and to be honest, Chip is doing nearly everything. He doesn't know if it's because Udonna is tired or because she trusts him, but either way he's the one doing it. Chip tosses ingredient after ingredient into the pot, naming each strange thing aloud as he goes. It feels almost like something out of Harry Potter, out of a fantasy novel he never believed could be real. 

"It feels like I'm a sorcerer," Chip mutters, and Udonna claps a brief hand on his shoulder.

"You  _are_ a sorcerer, Chip," she says, and it may be an attempt at reassuring him but it feels genuine.

So he works, and he works, and he works, despite the nauseating smell and heat could boil an egg, until the potion starts to glow a green not dissimiliar to the green of Xander's Ranger uniform. He sets up the crystals in the proper arrangement so that the sun can catch them, and when dawn breaks they do just that. He pulls the Dawn Crystal out of the potion and it glows as yellow as his own magic. 

"It worked," Chip mutters, a bit shocked, and Udonna offers him a proud smile. It's a little strange, to be honest, to have an adult look at him with such pride on their face. Sometimes the Roccas look at him with a smile, but he can't help but wonder if it's just because he's Vida's Soulmate. This, though, is entirely due to his own actions, his own magic and work. It's almost a bit dizzying.

"Well done, Chip," Udonna says. "Now it's time to go save your Soulmate."

He doesn't need any encouragement to do that, and so he runs out of Rootcore.

(Behind him, Udonna watches, pride in her chest at this boy who is growing up and learning so much so fast. She sees so much of herself in him, in his desire to learn, in his love of magic. He'd make a wonderful apprentice, if he wasn't already a Ranger.

It reminds her of her dreams, so long ago, for a son-

No. She pushes those thoughts aside. She's spent eighteen years grieving and dwelling- it's not productive to spend any more time on the  _could have been_ s. She has team of Power Rangers to take care of and the Master to defeat.

And if, that night after the teens return to Briarwood, she pulls out an old cask of wine and sits by the window mourning her son and husband, no one has to be any wiser.)

-

Day in, day out, they take down monsters and slowly make their way towards defeating the Master. They negotiate with giants, fend off Soulmate-targeted spells, meet Genji and Daggeron.  They fight monsters, take down vampires, get mind-controlled and injured and put under spells that make them fight their Soulmates. It’s all a bit of a mess, with far too many close brushes with death, but with Vida and Xander by his side, Chip is always confident in a win.

-

One night Chip finds Nick sitting in Root Core, staring out one of the disguised windows.

"What's going on?" Chip asks, sitting down on the bench next to Nick.

"It's stupid," Nick says, and Chip shakes his head.

"Feelings are never stupid, man, trust me."  _They're what got me out of the Bishops'._

Nick sighs, and something about him is much softer, much more vulnerable than Chip has ever seen him before. “It's just- I miss my mom and sister. We have a complicated, sometimes strained relationship, sure, but it's been months since I last saw them. Helping out all of these families, hearing Udonna's stories about Leanbow- it reminds me of how much I miss spending time with them, even though they frustrate me sometimes."

Chip is awkward around conversations about parents, and for good reason, but he doesn't want Nick to be sad, so he suggests: “Why don’t you talk to Madison about it? She'd definitely have some good advice.”

“I don’t want to worry her,” Nick says, and Chip doesn’t quite understand what it’s like to miss your parents- he never knew his- but he does understand the instinct to keep your shit to yourself so as not to worry your Soulmates.

“Here,” Chip says, digging around in his satchel. He pulls out his blanket, the raggedy old thing it is, and hands it over to Nick, who looks at it in question. “I’ve had that since I was a little kid, before I even entered the foster care system. It’s gotten me through a lot of bad times.”

“You were in foster care?” Nick asks, raising an eyebrow, and Chip nods.

“From age five to ten,” he says, “I got assigned a bad house but no one really noticed. My case slipped through the cracks, or something like that. The Roccas figured it out, though, and got me out.”

“I’m glad they did,” Nick says, and despite his gruff attitude Chip knows he's being sincere. He wouldn't be Madison's Soulmate- or the Red Ranger- if he wasn't. "You're a good guy, Chip."

Chip grins. "You going soft on me, Russell?"

"Not a chance, Thorn," Nick says with a smirk, though that doesn't stop him from clutching Chip's blanket tight to his chest.

-

And then Udonna is incapacitated, and they have to fight Koragg alone, and then suddenly Udonna is rushing into battle, putting herself between Nick and Koragg, declaring Nick their true son. Koragg turns back into Leanbow, and though Nick protests that he already has a mom, Chip can already see him caving to the idea. And it makes sense- he's the right age, and he has never known his father, and he's the fucking Red Ranger. Of course the Red Ranger, the great hero, is the son of their mentor and her husband.

Something in Chip’s chest aches, and it’s a feeling he doesn’t like. He shouldn't be biting back the bitter taste of jealousy. He should be happy that Nick has found his parents, that now he has three parents who love him.

(Chip has none. He has two loving parents-in-law, and two slightly distant parents-in-law, but no parents of his own. And he can’t help but hurt, just a little bit, because fuck it, he wants that.)

-

It takes two villages, and the revival of Leanbow and Daggeron after they die, but the team does take down the Master. They finally defeat the big Boss Villain, save the magic and human worlds, and things go back to normal, or at least they seem to. Chip and the rest of his friends are no longer Rangers, but they do maintain at least some level of their magical ability. Chip is really fucking excited about the future.

But it's only a few days later that Chip’s world comes crashing down around him.

* * *

“See, it's just kinda weird,” Nick admits to Chip as they’re helping clean up Root Core, “My entire life, I've just had my mom. Ma said that my biological father’s from Ohio and that he'd just never had an interest in my sister or I. I never realized she'd been lying to me my whole life."

Chip gives Nick a quick, reassuring pat on the back. "Don't worry," he says, "I bet she has a good explanation for not telling you." 

“Hey,” Madison says, pausing in her cleaning to turn and look at Nick. “Just curious- how does Udonna know you’re her son? She never really mentioned the reason.”

“It was a blanket that got Udonna excited, I think,” Claire says from her spot figuring out a spell in the corner, and Chip’s heart freezes in his chest. Nick turns to Chip, eyes wide.

“A blanket?” Nick asks.

Claire nods. “A small red one. I pulled it out of Nick’s bag when Udonna needed one, and she started shouting about Bowen and believing in magic.”

“A small red blanket?” Vida asks, and Chip knows she remembers the thing he could barely part with as a child.

“Doesn’t Chip have one just like that?” Xander asks, because of course neither of Chip’s Soulmates would forget something that important to him.

“It’s mine,” Chip says quietly, and Claire’s brow furrows.

“What’s yours?”

“That blanket you’re talking about,” Nick says, “Chip let me borrow it right before everything went down with Leanbow.”

 _Oh, by Merlin_ , Chip thinks as everyone turns to stare at him. When he’d felt that bitterness over Nick and Udonna’s son, he’d never meant-

“Chip’s their son,” Madison says, and Chip is trying to remember how to breathe. Udonna, his beloved mentor, was the woman who abandoned him in the middle of the park. She was the one who left him to enter foster care, the reason why ended up with the Bishops, the cause of the scars scattered on his body- 

Then the door to Root Core opens, and Udonna comes striding in. “Bowen- I mean, Nick- I have something I want to show you,” Udonna says, and Chip can’t help but stare. This woman could be- she could be his-

“Udonna,” Claire says, and Chip knows that she’s going to say something about the blanket. He doesn’t know if he wants her to or not, though.

“I’m not your son,” Nick declares, voice firm, and Chip knows that Nick is feeling the same emotional whiplash that Chip is. The idea that Nick’s mother could have been lying to him his whole life has been sitting in Nick’s mind for a few weeks now, and it could not have been a pleasant one to dwell on.

Udonna’s brow furrows. “But of course you are! You are your father’s son, Nick, and you carry such magic in you.” She smiles, and Chip kind of hates Udonna in this moment, because she’s breaking Chip’s heart in a way he didn’t think it was able to break. “You are a hero.”

Of course Udonna didn’t recognize Chip as her son- he was a baby when she gave him up. But it still hurts. Chip is her _son,_ and she so easily thought Nick her own. Despite the fact that Chip looks like her, loves magic like her- she didn’t even suspect it. But when Nick came along, with just the blanket as scant evidence- she believed it immediately. Is it because Nick’s the hero, the perfect son for everyone to love? He’s a Red Ranger, of course everyone would love to have him as their son.

“How do you know he’s your son?” Xander questions, voice low and quietly dangerous. It is the opposite of Vida’s face, clear and violent in her fury- Xander’s anger is a quiet sort of danger.

“Nick’s blanket was the one I kept Bowen swaddled in,” Udonna says, and what doubt Chip may have had is gone. The blanket he clutched as a kid, that he hid from the Bishops, that he’s kept in his backpack throughout middle and high school, that up until four weeks ago he kept in his satchel- it’s the one his mother abandoned him in. The one _Udonna_ abandoned him in.

Furious tears spring to Chip’s eyes and a lump rises in his throat. When he was a kid he dreamed his mother was a lost princess, who had to leave him behind because she was being hunted by monsters. Then, when he met the Bishops, he learned that the monsters had found him here just as easily as they would have with his mother.

He gave up on the idea of a fairytale ending, of having a mother and father that would return to save him from the monsters. He spent four years with the Bishops until the Roccas managed to wrangle the Soulmate laws so that he could live with them.

When Chip picked up his staff and declared his belief in magic, it was not a belief born of foolish childhood wishes and syrupy sweet fairytales. It was a faith born of necessity, of the way nightmares crush daydreams and how monsters teach little children that they have to rescue themselves because no one else will. It was a hope born of the iron in his spine, the solid weight of Soulmarks against his skin, the love of the Roccas in his heart.

“You didn’t recognize me,” Chip says, and Udonna looks at him with her brow furrowed. He raises his voice slightly as he says, “You gave me up, and you don’t even know it was me.”

Udonna’s face is full of confusion and doubt. “But Nick had the blanket-” she protests, voice brittle, and in this moment she looks so old.

That’s when Vida bursts, fury a familiar burn against Chip’s ears. “Do you have _any fucking clue_ what Chip had to go through after you gave him up? The abuse he suffered? The monsters he lived with?”

Udonna blinks, and Chip sees himself in her uncertainty. He has no idea how he never recognized that frown, those bright eyes, that dip in the nose, when he’s spent the past eighteen years seeing it in the mirror.

“That was his blanket,” Xander says, “Nick borrowed it. But that shouldn’t have been enough to think Nick was your son. Chip was a foster kid, Udonna, who was abandoned eighteen years ago. He looks just like you, too. How the bloody fuck didn’t you realize it?”

Udonna looks Chip straight in the eyes, and Chip doesn’t know where to set the blame. He’s angry, sure, but up until a few days ago he hadn’t even thought of the possibility himself. He’d been so busy being a Power Ranger, saving the day and protecting his Soulmates and family, that he hadn’t even questioned the resemblance between him and the woman before him.

(Years ago, somewhere in a life when bruises were still on his skin and he hadn’t yet moved in with the Roccas, he set aside the idea of a mother who could care. He convinced himself not to even look, because the mother who abandoned him to monsters could not possibly love him enough to protect him.)

“I didn’t abandon Bowen,” Udonna says, voice fragile, “I thought he was dead. After the Master’s minions took over our town, I ran with him. I ran and I fought the Master’s minions and I tried to protect him. I sat him down on a stone for just a moment one day when I heard the Master’s minions approaching- I didn’t want him getting injured in the fight- and when I got back he was just… _gone_. I searched for him for years, long after the Dark Forces had finally been banished, but never found him. I eventually had to accept that he was dead, just as I did Leanbow, or I would have gone insane with hope. It was only about a month ago that I learned that Phineas had left Bowen in the human world and that he was still alive. The fight against the Master was going strong and I was still the White Ranger at the time- I couldn't get distracted. After all, Bowen could have ended up as any thousands of orphans in the human world. I barely entertained the idea that he could be one of you, so talented and brave and well-adjusted.” Chip lets out a very bitter snort. Well-adjusted? He hopes so, but after everything that happened with the Bishops, he’d question that. “That seemed impossible, a wish that not even the Mystic Mother herself could make come true. I had to have proof. And I guess the blanket seemed like such.”

"Udonna," Nick says, voice surprisingly gentle, "I'm about 95% certain I wasn't adopted. My mom's from Oregon and didn't move to California until after I was born. There's the barest of possibilities, but I just don't think it's me. Not when Chip was the one with the blanket and the one who  _knows_ he's an orphan. I'm not your son, sorry."

Chip feels sorry for Nick, losing the possibility of a father after having connected with Leanbow so much over the past few weeks-

Oh god,  _Leanbow._ Chip doesn't just have a mother, he has a father too. He has a father, who has spent nearly all of Chip's life as a slave to the Master. The man he has watched Nick bond with over the past few days, the man who saved Nick from becoming Koragg by calling him 'son'- that's his father. Holy shit. He doesn't know whether to laugh, scream, or cry.

Udonna turns to look directly at Chip. “Chip,” she says, “I do believe you and I need to talk.”

Chip nods, and looks at his friends, who all seem to be engaging in a very large spectrum of emotions. "Do you guys all mind giving us some space, please?"

Madison, Nick, and Clare exit without any argument, but Xander and Vida stop at Chip's side. Vida places a hand on Chip's arm. "You sure you don't want us here for this?"

Chip glances back at Udonna, whose expression is so barely held together that Chip is pretty sure she would collapse with one touch. "No, I think I need to do this alone," he says, "I'll tell you both afterwards, though, I promise."

"Good luck, then," Xander says, then leans in and presses a quick kiss to Chip's cheek. Vida does the same before grabbing Xander's hand and leading them both out of Root Core.

Chip turns back around to face Udonna- to face his _mother_. Udonna is alternating between glancing at him and looking away, almost as if she's nervous to look him directly in the eye. She seems to have no idea how to speak to him, and at first Chip’s a bit offended by it considering how excited she was to get to know Nick as her son, but then he realizes that this can’t be any easier on her than it is on him. She just got adjusted to the idea that Nick was her son- and now she’s having to deal with the rug being pulled out from under her again with _another_ revelation about her son’s identity.  
  
But at least she speaks. "Xander mentioned something about you being a "foster kid." What does that mean? Is it some kind of apprenticeship?"

Oh. The hope in Udonna's eyes is almost heartbreaking- she's his mother, and she's hoping that he had a nice life, despite what Vida and Xander said in their attempts to stand up for him. 

But Chip doesn't know how to lie to her. "Foster care, in the human world, is a system where orphans get assigned families that they can live with for a little while under they get adopted. Kids who end up in the system are called foster kids. And to be honest, it could have been a nice thing. I know plenty of foster kids who love the families they got placed with."

"But..." Udonna swallows. "You didn't, did you?"

Chip shakes his head. "I didn't. The family I was placed with was abusive." He doesn't specify any further, doesn't detail the number of bruises and extra chores he got over the four years he lived with the Bishops. He doesn't think Udonna could bear the details of what happened. If her story is true- and Chip has never known Udonna to lie intentionally- then she had no choice in the matter. She didn't abandon him. What happened with the Bishops wasn't her fault, and hearing what happened would break her heart. Chip isn't spiteful enough to do that to her, even if she wasn't innocent.

Even without details, Udonna's face collapses and she looks like she's about to cry. "Abusive?"

He nods. "Vida and Madison's family got me out of it when I was nine. I lived with them until just last year, when Vida, Xander, and I got a place in town."

"Vida and Xander- your Soulmates," Udonna says, and Chip's brow furrows. She knows that Vida and Xander are his Soulmates- they introduced themselves as such- "You met your Soulmates and I missed it. You had your first steps, your first words, your first everything, and I missed it." Chip wants to protest, but she did. He can't exactly argue with the facts. "I missed everything." She blinks back tears, staring at his face.

"We would have loved you," Udonna says, voice quiet and broken. "We would have taken care of you."

For a moment, Chip imagines what it would have been like to grow up in the Shadow World, in the forest with magic permeating every aspect of its people's lives.

The thing is- he knows it wasn't peaceful. There was a war going on, and Udonna had been running. Even after Leanbow had sacrificed himself to complete the spell to seal the Master, Udonna had spent her days protecting the people from the remnants of the Master's Army.

But it would have been magical. He would have grown up a warlock, with a mother who loved him and an older sister in Clare. He would have had magic bursting under his skin, flowing from his fingertips, natural as breathing. He would have lived a fairytale, in an enchanted forest, learning the ways of the trolls and giants and elves-

He stops. What about Vida and Xander? He wouldn't have met them until they became Rangers, years and years after he met them in this life. He wouldn't have grown up with Vida by his side, scrappy and rebellious and fun. He wouldn't have met Xander when he moved in middle school, wouldn't have had far too many sleepovers with Xander and Vida, popcorn and cuddles and bad movies.

Xander and Vida would have just had each other, without him, and he wonders how different they'd be without his calm to temper Vida's defiance, his enthusiasm to balance Xander's more laidback nature.

(And the Bishops- would the foster system have put some other kid in their hands? Would they have even been caught in their abuse if some kid without a Soulmate nearby had ended up there?)

No, it's probably best that Chip grew up the way he did. Nothing can erase the bruises, erase the painful memories and occasional scar, but his childhood wasn't all misery. He had brilliant Vida and stable Madison and sardonic Xander brightening his days. He had fun. He loves his comic books and cult classic movies.

On the other hand, though, he wishes he could have eased Udonna's grief. She lost her husband and her son within the same week, had the two most important people in her life ripped from her. She grieved for years, buried herself in her spellwork and protecting the Mystic Village, when they were both just a heartbeat away.

"Udonna," Chip says, and he's not sure if he should go for a hug or not. "I don't doubt-"

The door to Root Core opens and Leanbow enters. From his expression Chip can tell that someone's already told him at least part of the story. "Xander and Vida told me that Nick is not actually Bowen?" Leanbow says it like it's a question, like Chip and Nick and Udonna have not had their whole worlds turned upside down in the last half hour.

"The blanket belonged to Chip," Udonna says, and Leanbow looks at Chip. Chip hasn't really had much interaction with Leanbow yet- it's all either been in battle or watching Leanbow talk to Nick as his son. He wonders what Leanbow thinks when he looks at Chip, if he's disappointed that Chip does not look as much like a hero- or like Leanbow, for that matter- as Nick does. He hopes not, but doesn't know the man all that well.

"Chip?" Leanbow asks, voice gravelly and unsure. "The Yellow Ranger?"

Chip nods. "That's me." And this is his father, for whatever that means.

"Are you sure you're Bowen? Udonna, I don't think my heart can handle another trick."

"I'm an orphan," Chip says, and not really feeling like explaining his whole life story again, he goes through the quick version. "Been living in Briarwood my whole life. Got stuck with a bad family when I was young, then one of my Soulmate's family got me out. Went through school, now working at the local music shop and sharing a place with my Soulmates. When they first found me as a baby, they found me with that red blanket that I lent to Nick about a month ago when he was having a bad day."

"You are kind," Udonna says, and her proud smile heals whatever part of his heart was still broken. "I'm so proud to have you as my son, Chip."

Chip doesn't know how to respond, how to accept such a compliment from his mother. He's never had anyone except Vida and Xander say something like that to him before, and they're different. They're his Soulmates- being proud of each other is kinda what you do in that kind of relationship. Having a parent be proud of him, though- that's not something he knows, and it makes him feel so unbelievably bright inside.

"Chip," Leanbow says, and the name 'Chip' sounds a bit strange in his mouth but he's definitely trying. "I'd like to get to know you better."

"I'd like to get to know you as well, sir," Chip says, and it feels brave yet so normal at the same time. "If you don't mind."

Leanbow's eyes go wide. "You're my son, Chip," he says,  "Of course I would like you to get to know me." Though his tone is a bit stiff it  _is_ sincere.

"Good," Chip says with a smile, because his father (his father _,_ his  _father,_ he doesn't think he's ever going to stop being excited about the fact that he has a  _father_ ) wants to get to know him. And it's not because he's a hero, not because he's the Red Ranger or a knight- it's just because Chip's his son. "Sounds like we're gonna have a fun time father-son bonding, then."

Leanbow's lips curve into the semblance of a smile. "You look like your mother, Chip."

"He does?" Udonna asks.

Chip nods. "It's almost like looking into a slightly older, more female mirror."

"He's not wrong, dear," Leanbow says to Udonna, and there's a strange, far-away quality to his gaze as he continues to speak. "You know, I spent the last eighteen years wondering if you and Bowen had survived. It was only in the back of my mind, during times when Koragg wasn't controlling every aspect of my thoughts, that I was able to think of you, but when I could I pictured the two of you. I tried to imagine the man you'd grow up to be. I had no idea whether you would look more like me or your mother, whether you would grow to be a wizard or a knight or some other variation of occupation. I just hoped that you would end up honorable and kind, with plenty of happiness to brighten your days. Now, Chip, I don't know you very well, but from what I've seen you have turned into the kind of honorable, heroic man I always dreamed that you would turn out to be."

(Okay, now Chip is really trying hard not to cry.)

"Do you..." Udonna swallows, gathering her courage for something. "Do you think we could give you a hug?"

Chip hesitates for just a second before nodding. He  _does_ love hugs, and they _are_ his parents. And to be completely honest with himself, he wants a family. Xander, Vida, Madison, and Mr. and Mrs. Rocca are family, and they'll always be, but it's not the same. This is his mother and father.

Udonna steps forward and pulls him into a tight hug, which he returns with just as much force. Beside him, Leanbow steps forward and wraps his arms around both of them. Chip can feel his hesitancy and he doesn't blame him. He thought Nick was his son just an hour ago- learning that it's really Chip must be a bit of a shock.

This hug, between these three people who thought themselves alone in the world for twenty years- it is awkward, and hesitant, but it means a lot.

They have a long way to go before they are a functioning family, but for now this is a great start.

-

That night, Chip falls into bed with his Soulmates, him in the middle with Vida and Xander cuddled on either side of him. Normally it'd be Xander in the middle- he's a bit of a cuddle slut- but after Chip's emotionally exhausting day he has been gladly surrendered the middle spot.

Vida's in boy shorts and a cami, Xander's in flannel pants and a tank top, and Chip, like usual, is sleeping shirtless with a pair of pj pants on. It's how he's most comfortable, and he's certainly not going to be putting on a shirt if he's going to be in the middle. (Xander and Vida are both human ovens when it comes to body temperature.)

"How'd it go?" Vida asks, tone gentle, and he offers them a fragile smile.

"I think it went pretty well, considering the fact that yesterday they were Nick's parents." The joke doesn't hurt as much as he thought it would have. Right now, he finally has a mother and a father. And Leanbow and Udonna, though awkward and unsure of what they are doing, _do_ sincerely care. For Chip, that's enough. It's all he wants out of his parents.

"So we don't need to beat anyone up?" Xander asks, and Chip is only half-sure that he's joking.

"They're both really old," Chip says, "With brittle bones. I'm pretty sure they would shatter if you hit them even a little bit hard."

"They were both Power Rangers last week," Vida says, "Your idea of old and brittle is certainly different than mine."

"Well, they're not Power Rangers anymore," Chip says, a smile sneaking its way onto his face. "They're just my parents. Also, I can't wait to introduce them to comic books and superhero movies."

"You sure they'd like that?" Xander asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"Leanbow  _did_ say he wanted to learn more about me," Chip says, "And this is a great way start, right?"

"Only you, Charlie Thorn, would suggest comic books as a knight's first introduction to the modern world," Vida says fondly before kissing Chip, allowing him to taste her strawberry lip gloss.

"It's as good a place as any to start," Chip protests.

"Don't forget to introduce them to pizza," Xander offers.

"As if he could forget," Vida scoffs. "Pizza is a necessary part of any introduction to the modern world."

"And I also need to introduce them to you guys as well," Chip says, absentmindedly twirling a finger through Vida's choppy hair.

"They already know us," Xander says, raising an eyebrow. "We were all Rangers, don't you remember?"

"I meant introducing you as my Soulmates," Chip says, and Xander and Vida both smile.

Vida leans down and presses a kiss to the scar on Chip's stomach. Though he has a couple of nasty ones throughout his body- the starburst one on his knee from the time he had to clean up a broken vase without jeans on is memorable one- the one on his stomach is still the worst. He remembers it like a nightmare he had last night- he was seven years old, and he'd fucked up on washing the dishes properly. One of the Bishop parents had gotten fed up and chucked one of the small bowls at his stomach. It had shattered against his skin, bruised his rib, and he ended up with seven stitches along the spiderweb of scars on the bottom of his torso. Whenever Vida or Xander are trying to make Chip feel better, they'll treat the scar like a target for kisses, trying to get as many kisses in as possible as a sign that they love him no matter what.

(Neither Udonna or Leanbow would ever do something as horrible as that to him, he knows it. They wouldn't have gotten angry like the Bishops, would have been kind and understanding with his fuck ups. Chip imagines what'll be like from now on, having parents that are there _for_ you before they're there to punish you. He thinks it'll be pretty nice.)

"I love you," Chip says, glancing between his Soulmates, "Both of you. A lot."

"Same to you, you loony nerd," Xander says, dropping a kiss at the corner of Chip's lips. "And you too, pinkie."

Vida rolls her eyes and flips Xander the bird (in the most loving way possible, of course). "Bite me, Bly."

"Hold you to that offer at a later time, Rocca. Right now, we have a Soulmate to shower with our love."

Chip rolls his eyes but smiles at the two people he loves most in the world, his ridiculous, glorious Soulmates. "Said Soulmate welcomes all the love," he says, spreading his arms into the air, and moments later gets two pillows to the body- one to the face, and the other to the chest. Chip pouts at his two laughing Soulmates. "Is what love means to you two idiots?"

" _Your_ idiots," Vida says.

Chip shrugs as he pelts both of the pillows back at their respective owners, who catch them easily. "Fair point."

"Well, here's to a good day tomorrow," Xander says, dropping his pillow back on the bed and flopping back down next to Chip.

"With my Soulmates by my side and a pair of parents who want me, how could tomorrow be anything but great?" Chip asks as Vida snuggles in on his other side.

Chip Thorn is not a fairy tale, ending in happily-ever-after. He is not a damsel, hero, or a prince. He is just a man with magic in his fingertips, Soulmates by his sides, and parents waiting to get to know him.

Tonight, he is finally happy, and there are no monsters to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for the continuation of this series or how long this fic is compared to the other one-shots in this series, other than I had ideas and Things Happened and characters developed and, well, the story just kept growing.
> 
> Anyway, I will try to slow down slightly on the pace of fics (even though I know whatever person is following this series probably likes the quick churning-out rate of these fics) and spend more time between them, but who knows? I have definite ideas for Jungle Fury, my Ninja Steel/Dino Charge crossover, and my Dino Charge multi-chap. I also have notes for a rewrite of Megaforce to make it a lot less shitty, but at this rate I'm pretty sure it will turn into a multi-chap and so I'm probably going to wait on that one specifically.
> 
> But finally, please comment if you enjoyed or even if you didn't! I welcome constructive criticism just as well as I do positive reviews. Hope you all liked this, and I hope I did a good job with the characterization of everybody. My writing motto is "write realistic reactions to unrealistic scenarios" and I hope I wrote Chip, Udonna, Leanbow, Vida, Xander, and Nick well enough.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [the courage to be gentle](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17701478) by [aletterinthenameofsanity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aletterinthenameofsanity/pseuds/aletterinthenameofsanity)




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